So, you’re applying for an apprenticeship or graduate scheme at DE&S!
We’ve got five key things we need to see within your CV. So, to help you prepare, we’ve written some guidance. Please follow it when applying – writing your CV this way helps us to better understand you as a person and properly assess your suitability for our schemes.
First important thing to note – when we get your CV and personal statement, we’ll be scoring you numerically against your aspiration, engagement, and ability. You’ll need to show us what you have to offer within these areas to be considered for the next stage of our selection process.
Let’s start with your CV structure…
- Your name
- Your email address
All other contact information will be captured within the wider application.
Please include a personal statement at the top of your CV, within the range of 200 to 500 words, answering the following questions:
- Why do you want to join the scheme you’re applying for?
- How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for the scheme?
- What else have you done to prepare for the scheme outside of education, and why are these experiences helpful?
We’ll need your personal statement to be included within the same document as your CV. Please note that if your personal statement is missing from your CV, we may be unable to consider your application.
In this section, please clearly list your academic qualifications, professional memberships, and clearly label your grades (even if they’re predicted). The more relevant, the better. Please make sure you’ve checked the minimum qualifications needed for the scheme – we’ll need to make sure you have these!
If you’re applying for an apprenticeship: please highlight if you have any previous apprenticeship experience in the same, or a similar, subject.
If you have any work experience, you can include it here. We’d recommend starting with your current, or most recent role and then work backwards in time.
This is your chance to showcase what you’ve done outside of education and really highlight your suitability for the scheme you’re applying for.
We’d like to see:
- Job title
- Employer’s name
- Dates of employment
- Main activities, responsibilities, and skills gained
One tip we have here is to make sure you’re looking at the scheme advert you’re applying for, ensuring that your experiences and skills show off your suitability for the scheme.
This is the section we want to know about anything else! Do you have interests in your personal life or spare time that highlight leadership, organisation, or communication skills? This is where we’d like to see it (in this section, it’s important to remember that we’re assessing you on skills that could be transferable to the role).
Our artificial intelligence (AI) guidance.
We’re okay with you using AI tools during your application – we understand that it can support you in writing a CV and personal statement. However, all information that you submit must be factually accurate. For example, please don’t use ideas and experiences of other people (or AI) as your own. All the information you’ll include within your CV and personal statement will be assessed again at both the assessment centre and during your interview.
